Doyel: Time to take this IU team seriously
BLOOMINGTON – He’s not the same coach he used to be. In the old days? Whew. IU basketball coach Tom Crean would push guys until they were looking for a bucket to puke into. That’s how he’s wired, how he pushes himself. Hard. No, harder. No. Harder.
A few years ago? If some practice for Indiana is good, then more practice is better. Harder is smarter. Type-A people like Crean, it’s what they ask of themselves – and demand of others.
Earlier this season, his hand forced by the injury to James Blackmon Jr., Crean decided to go another direction. The results have reinforced his evolution, the latest result an 89-57 wipeout of a pretty good Northwestern squad that looked simply awful Saturday. And the Wildcats aren’t awful. Four days ago they went into Maryland and took the No. 7 Terps into overtime before falling. On Saturday they went into Assembly Hall and got run out of the building.
Indiana is doing that to lots of teams these days. This blowout Saturday was the Hoosiers’ third in a row of more than 25 points at home, matching a feat last accomplished by the 1987-88 Hoosiers of Bob Knight.
But the level of competition, right? That’s what the doubters are shrieking, convinced this 17-3 IU record has been built on a foundation of cupcakes. And there is some validity there. Indiana has won 12 consecutive games, including its first 7-0 start in Big Ten play since 1993, and not once in those 12 games have the Hoosiers played – beaten – a Top 25 team. Indiana is just barely there itself, ranked No. 25.
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But they are stacking wins now, playing the only teams they can play – the ones on the schedule – and destroying them. Indiana is getting better by the game, just like its coach, who has relaxed the reigns to the point that he literally spent a timeout on Saturday not coaching his team. He turned the IU huddle over to Yogi Ferrell, letting his senior star take ownership in an expanding way. Crean stood behind him and made like everyone else on the team. He listened.
These Hoosiers, they were uninspiring in late November in Hawaii – losing to Wake Forest and UNLV by a total of seven points – and they were embarrassed a week later in Durham, losing to Duke by 20.
In all other games, before and since, the Hoosiers are undefeated. It is is time to take them seriously – as seriously as we’ve taken a Tom Crean team since the 2012-13 group reached the No. 1 ranking.
The talent is part of it, but the talent has been here all season. And last season. Ferrell is a future pro. Thomas Bryant and Troy Williams will be as well, though both would be doing their long-term NBA aspirations a disservice by entering the draft after this season. Neither is ready. Williams needs to get smarter on the court. Bryant needs to get stronger, more skilled. But those are three pros.
Blackmon could be a fourth, but he hasn’t played since the Big Ten schedule began and isn’t expected back – and shouldn’t return even if he can, to be honest. The Hoosiers have found themselves in his absence, moving the ball faster on offense and playing better on defense. He would be best served watching from the outside, seeing what this IU monster has become in his absence, and returning next season a better, more educated player.
So anyway, talent has never been a problem for IU. It’s the other stuff, the effort and on-court acumen, and Crean’s evolution has turned both of those negatives into positives. And here’s what he did:
Crean stopped pushing so hard.
Since Blackmon’s knee surgery Jan. 5 left IU so short-handed that Crean elevated manager Jackson Tharp of Zionsville to the active roster, the Hoosiers spend less time on the practice court, more time in the film room. Players still get their shots up, most of that on their own – at their own pace, Collin Hartman was telling me after Saturday’s game – shooting as much as their body can handle but not as much as their previously relentless coach was demanding. Practice time is not just less frequent, but less intense. It’s not the unforgiving workout it used to be, not the exercise in physical and mental warfare Crean used to create.
Crean makes one exception: turnovers. Earlier this season, with many spates of stupid basketball – turnovers – the biggest hurdle for his team, he created a limit. Well, two limits. On the road, the team is allowed 12 turnovers. At home, it’s nine. For every turnover above those levels, the team has to run a medieval wind sprint called a “17,” a reference to the number of lines the players have to touch as they race up and down the court. He wants them to do it in 64 seconds or less. One 17 is painful. But a series of them? Say, if Indiana has 14 turnovers at home and therefore has to run five 17s?
“Horrible,” Hartman was saying.
Good news after Saturday. Sort of.
“They’ll get one (Sunday),” Crean said of the team’s next 17. “Guys have to run after turnovers. These guys are too good to be giving the ball back like that.”
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Indiana had 10 turnovers against Northwestern, showcasing what is happening here: This team is playing smarter than it has all season, and it is playing harder as well. The Hoosiers are fresher, physically and mentally. They are following Ferrell, using the tough-minded senior as a heat shield. Ferrell has claimed ownership of this team, entering the pantheon of IU greats not just with his ascension up the school leaderboard for points (10th place with 1,720) and assists (first, 559) but with his leadership off the court. Nobody is watching more film than Ferrell, and for the first time he is sharing his knowledge with teammates. He cannot do this alone, and he has much to accomplish.
The Hoosiers are still two weeks away from facing the best teams in the league, with Iowa (twice), Michigan State, Purdue and Maryland forming five of Indiana’s final seven regular-season opponents. That’s a brutal finish, but the Hoosiers will be fresh for the fight. They are like their coach – they have talent and they have experience, and they are getting better.
Find Star columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at@GreggDoyelStar or atwww.facebook.com/gregg.doyel